Facebook to unveil mobile ad network at F8 conference

It’s been years in the making but Facebook is finally set to unveil its own mobile ad network. The social network will debut the service during its F8 developer conference in San Francisco later this month according to multiple sources familiar with the matter as reported by Re/code.

The publication claims Facebook will market the service to publishers and developers as a way to tap into the social network’s invaluable database of user information. Such detailed data about end users is coveted by advertisers as it allows for better ad targeting.

Facebook’s mobile ad network will launch with a limited number of ad partners at first before expanding over the coming months. Ads served by Facebook will appear on a number of websites and within mobile apps.

The news shouldn’t really be a surprise as people both inside and outside of the company have been calling for a mobile ad network for quite some time. Up until just recently, Facebook was too busy selling ads on its website but that’s all changed now as the market continues to shift toward mobile.

Facebook could have simply acquired an ad network like Twitter did with MoPub but it seems they elected to build their own from the ground up. That’s probably for the best as it allows them to get exactly what they want out of the network without having to spend time tweaking an existing system.